MY SHORT THEOLOGY OF MENTAL ILLNESS

May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 5:23).

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).

then the Lord formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul) (Genesis 2:7 RSV).

If scientists are given only the raw chemistry of life, they cannot create life in a test tube.  For scientists to "create" life there has to be material included that has life force in it, and that comes from God.  Anything living, plant or animal, has life force in it and only God can provide that.  But, of all living things, it is only said of human beings that they are created in the image of God; God has breathed spirit into every human being that is like himself.

Scientists have tirelessly researched the genome of the human body and have a pretty good understanding of the genetics that make it "tick."  While there is a lot of genetic variability among human beings so that no two of us are exactly alike, we are more alike than we are different so that basic genetic principals apply to us all.  When the God-created-in-his-own-image human spirit enters  the body, the unification of body and spirit makes a soul.  The human spirit impacts the body and the body impacts the spirit in such a way that both spirit and body will never be the same again--even after the body dies, the impact of the body on the spirit will always remain.  The spirit of a dead person will remain a soul.  Even though in our residence in Heaven we will have perfect bodies, living in the earthly body will have had a role in shaping our character.  Through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our environment we are shaped little by little into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 3:18).  Think of the sweet character of a downs syndrome person or one who has battled schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or any other physical problem, God has worked in their lives, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, shaping their character into the likeness of Christ.

In its self, the flesh is not evil.  The flesh serves as a house for the human spirit (II Corinthians 5:1-5).  The problem with the flesh is that it is very demanding so that it tends to want to dominate our lives! The flesh has needs; it tires easily, needs to be fed, it ages.  Not only that, it has its desires too, so the flesh is very demanding, wanting its needs and desires met NOW!  One very important principal that every child of God has to understand is that this body that we live in is to be our servant, not our master.  We make our decisions by faith in God, not by the demands of the flesh.  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace, says Romans 8:6.  It is sin to allow the flesh to be the primary dynamic of decision making.

So what does this have to do with mental illness?  There are times when our brains and glands fail.  The body does not respond to the directives of the will of the spirit.  Is the spirit accountable for something it can do nothing about?  Only to the degree that there can be some control.  As I wrote in Mental Illness and Personal Responsibility, there are those who are mentally ill who take personal responsibility for their behavior and perform very well.  To have no expectations of responsibility for the mentally ill diminishes their person hood, and diminishes the possibility that they can ever function responsibly.

Mental illness is not a picnic for anyone--for the patient, his family and others to whom he is connected.  Mental illness is a result of the body not working properly.  Because the brain is so closely connected to the will, the will being the product of the human spirit's activity*, there is a stigma of the demonic or activity of the evil one attached to it.  Also, because it is beyond our control, and not understood, it is stigmatized and shunned.  The person afflicted with mental illness is still a person created in the image of God whom God loves.  God alone can accurately judge the degree of responsibility of each mentally ill person, but it would be wrong for those who are treating the mentally ill not to have some expectations of responsible behavior because the ill will not progress without them!

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom

* A neurosurgeon can strategically place electrodes on a patients brain and move the patients arms, but the patients will is absent--something is being done to the patient, not something done by him.